Cold, But Still Fishing Weather

STEVE WATERS ON OUTDOORS

December 31, 1999|STEVE WATERS ON OUTDOORS

LEE'S FERRY, Ariz. — Having braved temperatures in the high 50s while pursuing sea trout in South Florida, I thought I knew what cold-weather fishing was all about. Then I fished for rainbow trout in the Colorado River in northern Arizona a few weeks ago.

Take it from me: You haven't fished in cold weather until you have ice in the guides of your fishing rod.

When I first noticed the ice, I thought it was a snarl of monofilament line. When I saw similar snarls in three of the fly rod's other guides, I realized what I was looking at and then wondered how I got talked into fishing for trout in the shadows of Glen Canyon on a frigid December morning.

I had traveled to St. George, Utah, for the mid-winter board meeting of the Outdoor Writers Association of America. Tom Wharton of Salt Lake City, my friend and the chairman of the board, suggested I join him and three other writers on a fishing trip after the meeting.

"Bring some warm clothes, just in case it's cold," Wharton had warned. Fortunately, I brought more clothes than I thought I would need and ended up wearing them all: Longjohns, blue jeans, corduroys, insulated undershirt, turtleneck, chamois shirt, sweatshirt, sweater, jacket, waders, polarfleece hat. I moved with the grace of the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz, but I was almost warm.

It was a 2-hour drive east from St. George -- in the southwest corner of Utah -- to Lee's Ferry, which divides Glen Canyon and the Grand Canyon. While the Grand Canyon attracts scores of rafters, Glen Canyon lures serious trout anglers to its 15 miles of the Colorado River. Portions of the river have incredible trout populations; a study in the summer of 1998 revealed 52,000 fish 6 inches or larger per river mile and 5-pound rainbow trout are not uncommon.

Fishing is good year-round, but the most comfortable fishing is in fall and spring. Summer can be fiercely hot once the sun rises above the canyon walls.

Glen Canyon became a world-class trout fishery after the Glen Canyon dam was built in 1963 to generate hydroelectric power and create Lake Powell, which is known for its striped bass fishing. The cold, clear water released by the dam supports the trout, which are stocked by the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

Regulations are strict: Only flies and lures with barbless hooks can be used. Anglers can keep two fish a day up to 16 inches. According to our guide, Tracy Duepner, anglers are encouraged to release all fish.

Our party met Duepner at the Lee's Ferry boat ramp before sunrise on a Sunday. The temperature was in the low 30s.

Standard procedure is to anchor the boat near a gravel bar or eddy, get out and wade in the shallows along the shoreline, casting to all the likely trout lairs. We had gotten a late start, so Duepner had to run almost all the way to the dam before he found an open spot.

Hopping out of the boat into the water wasn't as bad as I feared. Then I waited while Duepner rigged up a fly that imitates a scud, the freshwater shrimp on which the trout gorge themselves. Tied to the bend of the scud's hok was a foot of 6X tippet material (2.25-pound test) to which a tiny midge nymph was attached. A small split shot was placed above the scud and a strike attractor tied to the leader above that. The strategy was to cast the flies upriver and let them drift in the current, hopefully in front of a trout.

When Wharton caught a trout on his third or fourth cast, we figured we each were in for one of the 50-fish days many of Duepner's customers have enjoyed. But the catching was downhill from there, with just a few more fish released between the five of us.

Still, the sights more than made up for the poor fishing: The towering red walls of the canyon. The huge rocks balanced atop one another. The steady flow of the river that carved the canyon. And the ice in a Floridian's rod guides.

Steve Waters can be reached at swaters@sun-sentinel.com or at 954-356-4648.